I used to offer mobile services to clients whom I've built rapport over time, but now, clients usually come to me instead as I have a studio with dedicated equipment. You will lose a lot of time in packing/unpacking when it's a first visit so bear this in mind.
--Questions I have are - how do you do pedicures to adapt to each clients home. Do you take equipment along?--
I only took the equipment that I needed to do the service; i.e. polishes, acetone, alcohol, brushes, etc. The client would provide two chairs and a table which should be reasonable if the client doesn't doesn't want to come to you. The amount of stuff that you can bring will be limited on your availability of transport; having a car, it's much easier to take with you. For example, you can take more loads such as a deluxe foot spa whereas an inflatable one would be much lighter to take if you didn't have a car. Assess your weight restrictions based on what is safe for you to carry as you might need to take them through a flight of stairs were no lifts are available. Personally, I used to do my mobile service with my bicycle when I started and carried two pannier bags which were heavy.
I have also restricted the types of services I would carry out on a mobile basis due to the fact that I can offer these services better when it is done in a fixed and controlled environment. For example, a pedicure spa is supposed to be relaxing and an unwinding experience. If the client has children or other "noises" in the house, that can influence negatively in the whole experience. Now usually clients come to me rather than me to them.
--If this is my choice, surely people won't be happy with a "home visit charge"?--
I didn't have a home charge in my price structure, but in my experience, people have contacted me and they said they would pay extra as I had to travel far away for a family member who suffered from MS. I even had people haggle with me that they wouldn't pay £25 for a gel polish and soak off service because their local salon would do it all for £18. My reply was, "you get what you pay for in this industry". Sadly people will go for the cheapest when it comes to nails until something happens; they get an infection or their nails get ruined.
You need to balance this one out as transport might be either cheap or expensive where you are based and you will risk having a complicated price structure. You might include this extra charge if you only offer mobile services on top of your base service price. My tip is KISS - Keep It Stupid Simple.
My only exception is that because I have a card reader, I will charge my clients extra if they choose to pay by card as my card processor charges me slightly less than 3% in processing fees. If I didn't, it would mean that the card processor would eat away at my earnings.
In my experience, clients who are professionals don't mind paying the extra 3% on top of their service and include a tip if they choose to pay by card! Others will pay with cash and I always quote them via an automated website booking system which I developed myself so they know how much the services will cost so a client can tailor make their own treatments before hand.
You will also need to take into account that mobile visits will be much more time consuming in terms of packing/unpacking, than having someone come to you. Once you get into the habit of a home visit routine, it will get quicker.
-You will need to assess how much your transport will cost and add this into your price structure. I.e. if you own a car, get an estimate of mpg and calculate how many miles it will take for you to reach points A to B (you could do a radius range zone price structure, Zone A costs x, Zone B costs y, etc).
-You also need to add vehicle excise duty and insurance. Cost of maintenance and wear and tear should also be added to your costs.
Also make sure your own nail tech insurance covers for mobile visits.
